# Family moves into a puzzle - amazing story **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820 "2008-06-13T16:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/1 "2008-06-13T16:16:52Z")
[Story here](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/garden/12puzzle.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1#) (NY Times registration may be required) Basically a family moves into a newly renovated apartment, which hides an amazingly intricate puzzle. Really fun story. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/2 "2008-06-13T16:39:16Z")
okay now that is cool. As an Architect I love it! Too bad I don’t have those types of clients. Reminds me of that movie ‘National Treasure’. Cool idea as long as it doesn’t detract from the functional use of the space. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/3 "2008-06-13T16:53:52Z")
Wow - that is cool. I guess you can do some pretty cool stuff for 8.3 million. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/4 "2008-06-13T16:55:29Z")
The traditional Japanese art in the living room was also quite beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/5 "2008-06-13T18:02:51Z")
I want to live in a puzzle house! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/6 "2008-06-13T18:09:51Z")
I love the door knockers/hand cranks. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/7 "2008-06-13T18:10:51Z")
I wonder if it can all be reversed, and set back to its original state. I also wonder if all the clues have to be followed in order, or just some of them. Pretty neat, I always pretended the house I was growing up had secrets like that (but never as complex). ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/8 "2008-06-13T18:14:55Z")
That is so cool! When I was a kid I always wished I could find secret passages and ways to get between the walls. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/9 "2008-06-13T18:17:35Z")
That reminded me of the Resident Evil video games. In order to do simple tasks like open a certain door you need to gather certain items and break codes. Of course these guys had it easier, they weren’t being chased by mindless zombies. ---
**Author:** ![muzzynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@muzzynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muzzynyc)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/10 "2008-06-13T18:30:09Z")
Yay! Rich people having fun! /bitter renter of cramped, Hell’s Kitchen apartment ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/11 "2008-06-13T21:07:29Z")
I know! I’ve always wanted a house with a secret passage, but that is just so much cooler than a secret passage. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/12 "2008-06-13T21:17:41Z")
Completely irrelevant but is it commonplace to use the word “bemused” to mean “amused” now? Because I always thought that word meant puzzled or confused but those meanings don’t make sense in the context in which it’s used at the end (since they solved the puzzle, after all). \*The Sherry-Klinsky clan remains largely bemused by the extent to which Mr. Clough embellished and embedded their apartment. But Ms. Sherry and Mr. Klinsky are not immune to the romance of objects or messages hidden in walls, or what Ms. Sherry called “winks from one family to another.” \* ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/13 "2008-06-13T21:49:22Z")
**anu-la** - I thnk they’re puzzled as to why he went to all that trouble when they didn’t pay for it, or request it. So of like hiring a guy to fix your dishwasher and finding out he’d repainted your bedroom while he was there. StG ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/14 "2008-06-13T21:59:42Z")
“Bemused” can also mean something like “distracted” or “absorbed”. Since they seem to like what the architect did, I would guess that’s what the writer meant–possibly with connotations of “enchanted” or “charmed”. They’re still fascinated with all the little puzzles and hiding places. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/15 "2008-06-13T22:37:47Z")
Thanks guys, that makes more sense. I’m such a dork when it comes to that stuff. Cool article AND house. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/16 "2008-06-14T06:09:18Z")
Nothing against the current occupants, but it would have been cooler if the puzzle had remained unnoticed for several decades. The yet-to-be occupants would’ve been REALLY confused. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/17 "2008-06-14T17:20:37Z")
I know what I want for my birthday! ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/18 "2008-06-14T17:31:12Z")
So apparently, rich people can afford all sorts of clever indulgences. Nice to know. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/19 "2008-06-14T18:47:34Z")
When I win the lottery (shut up! It’ll happen!), I plan to build a house with at least one secret passage and room, plus cubbies and stuff. Of course, I’d then have to hope I’d remember where they all were and how to get into them, but still… What a cool home. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820/20 "2008-06-14T19:11:45Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] So apparently, rich people can afford all sorts of clever indulgences. Nice to know. [/QUOTE] Actually, they’ve been able to do so for almost 50 years now. It’s in the Constitution. You can look it up. Although it appears that most of the puzzle work was done for free. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-moves-into-a-puzzle-amazing-story/452820.md?page=2)